Fourth Somali journalist killed since year began

New York, April 5, 2012--Somali
authorities must immediately investigate the murder of a radio journalist who
worked for the country's leading independent broadcaster and ensure the
perpetrators are brought to justice. Mahad Salad Adan was the fourth journalist
killed in Somalia since the beginning of the year.

Unidentified assailants shot Adan at
around 5 p.m. near his home in Beledweyne,
the capital of the central Somali region of Hiran, according to local journalists and news reports. Adan,
better known as Mahad Jamal, was the editor of Voice of Hiran, a radio station
in Hiran, before he began working as a local correspondent for Somalia's
largest news outlet, the Shabelle Media Network.

Adan had reported on the conflict
between Al-Shabaab and the Somali government and its Ethiopian allies, his
colleague at Shabelle, Qaali Ahmed, told the Kenya-based news website Somalia Report.
Somali forces had seized Beledweyne
from Al-Shabaab's control in late December, but have faced ongoing attacks from the insurgents, according to news reports. Ahmed said
that some of Adan's reports could be seen as critical of Al-Shabaab, the Somalia Report said.

Witnesses told reporters there were
three gunmen. Government forces who arrived at the scene shot dead one of them,
according to Shabelle. Some news
accounts citing government officials reported that the dead gunman was an
Al-Shabaab fighter.

"We condemn the senseless murder of
journalist Mahad Salad Adan, and send our deepest condolences to his family and
colleagues," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "We call on
Somali authorities to apprehend Adan's killers and take all the necessary steps
to ensure that journalists are able to work freely without fear of reprisal."

At least three other journalists have been killed in Somalia this year, including
the former Radio Shabelle Director Hassan Osman, who was shot
dead in January near his home in Mogadishu. Over the past five years, six Radio
Shabelle journalists have been killed in the line of duty, according to CPJ research.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This alert has been modified to reflect that the Somalia Report is
Kenya-based, not U.K.-based.